Forget for a moment that Sarah Jaffe belongs to Dallas. When it comes to sheer, raw talent, it no longer matters. She’s become one of the most compelling female singer-songwriters on the national scene today.

Jaffe’s 65-minute set Friday night at the new City Performance Hall beautifully revealed her artistic maturity, and not only because it focused largely on the powerhouse songs from her sophomore full-length CD, 2012’s The Body Wins.

She’s the full package now: Rediscovering her muse led to a disc that expanded and sharpened her creativity as well as honing her concert prowess. She fully displays vulnerability and strength, anguish and elation.

The Friday gig officially opened the 750-seat, $40.5 million venue. It was the first of two opening night shows. The other, dubbed “Triple Play,” featured sets by local bands the Relatives, Pleasant Grove and Seryn.

City Performance Hall is an acoustic marvel. All that wood on the seats, the floor and the overhang creates a resonating effect perfect for music. Basses boomed without turning fuzzy, drums snapped without pounding and guitars delivered crisp notes that never distorted.

Jaffe, with her slickly coiffed platinum hair and bright yellow shoes, played guitar and bass, too. It was her fresh love affair with the bass that inspired the songs for The Body Wins.

But that voice, a hypnotic instrument at once sweet and salty, carried the evening particularly during the beat-heavy “Glorified High,” the stinging “Fangs,” the luxurious “The Way Sound Leaves a Room” and the powder-keg stunner “Clementine.” Oh, and Jaffe’s cover of Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels,” featuring just her voice and Danbom’s piano, was mesmerizing.

Dallas’ resuscitated soul-gospel ensemble the Relatives opened the second show with a 40-minute set that had the crowd hollering, swaying, jumping and screaming. The five-man group, backed by a four-piece band, brought us church, old-school style.

Numbers such as the rousing “Let Your Light Shine” and the call-and-response ballad “What’s Wrong with America” stirred up joyful noise. Add a bit of choreography and we got the best of James Brown and the Temptations mixed into a Dallas musical institution.

Pleasant Grove also reunited for its performance. We got six members onstage including Bret Egner on guitar and Joe Butcher (currently with the King Bucks) on pedal steel. For about 40 minutes, Pleasant Grove worked up a haunting set of indie country-rock with a trancelike allure. These guys are all about the whisper-to-a-scream, best represented by their signature song, “Only a Mountain.”

By the time Denton’s Seryn began their set, after a long, 40-minute sound check, it was already Saturday morning. So I took in only 20 minutes, leaving at about 1 a.m. The quintet, though, never caved to the late hour. They brought intensity, fierce instrumentalism, harmonious vocals and plenty of folk with bite.

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About Mario Tarradell

Mario has covered a variety of popular music genres, from pop and rock to country and Latin music since he arrived at The News in 1994. A native of Cuba who was raised in Miami, he also enjoys reviewing movies and books. He's an avid music collector, from vintage vinyl albums to CDs and even cassettes. He's also an avid reader of classics and more modern works. And he collects celebrity posters from the 1970s and 1980s. Follow him on Twitter @MarioTarradell

Hometown: Miami

Education: Mario has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from St. Thomas University.